The best way to remove excess body fat is through healthy eating and regular exercise. These strategies reduce and burn off calories, thus preventing excess energy from becoming stored as fat.
Exercise and a healthy diet can decrease your total amount of body fat, but it can’t remove fat from specific parts of your body. In other words, “spot reducing” doesn’t work. In order to aide in the reduction of these pockets of fat, science has now developed a number of new devices and technologies aimed at improving the body.
Fortunately, there are options available today for removing localized pockets of unwanted body fat that don’t respond to diet or exercise. These options fall into several basic categories: invasive surgery, non-invasive fat reduction devices, and alternative therapies.
The invasive options include such major surgical procedures as liposuction, tummy tucks and buttocks lifts. These procedures generally involve general anesthesia and longer downtimes.
Another category of fat reduction options are the minimally invasive treatments. Quite popular now are the laser-assisted lipolysis procedures.These usually involve little downtime and less discomfort.
Non-invasive fat reduction procedures use radiofrequency energy, light energy, mechanical massage—or some combination of these—to dissolve fat deep in the skin (a process call lipolysis) without penetrating or damaging the skin’s surface. Ultrasound technology is also being tested in clinical trials with some promising early results; these devices may become available for use in the United States within the next few years. Stay tuned.
One caveat about the non-invasive procedures: Current technologies shrink fat cells, but they don’t destroy them. Over time, the cells will gradually pump back up with fat—and particularly fast if you gain weight. So for long-lasting results, you must have maintenance treatments—and keep in shape.
The list of physicians on www.fatreduction.org represent some of the world's most experienced dermatologists and laser hair removal experts.
WOULD DO IT AGAIN?
Q: I'm considering a tummy tuck. What are the alternatives?
A tummy tuck is a surgical procedure, and as such carries with it...
Q: What is non-invasive and minimally-invasive?
Non-invasive procedures are those which do not cut or insert...
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